Rhane’s mouth pulled back into a vicious snarl showing two rows of sharp and elongated teeth. He launched himself away from the truck, right into the monster’s path. The two collided. Furious growls of eardrum splitting caliber ripped apart the air. Kali’s heart stopped when an agonized shout echoed into the night. A moment later, Rhane’s body smashed into the side of the squad car, moving it back an entire foot. His t-shirt was pitifully torn. A bright red stain of blood smeared the door when he moved. His hand flashed up, holding the gun confiscated earlier. He pulled the trigger. Gabriel roared. Kali pressed her hands against her ears to block the terrible sound. After the sixth shot, Gabriel fell silent.
Not wasting a second, Rhane scrambled over to her. Several huge gashes mangled his left arm. She reached out for him, held on desperately. “My dad, we have to get my daddy.”
“Kalista, we have to go. Gabriel’s not down for long.”
“No. He’s still alive.” She wasn’t ashamed to beg for Greg’s life. He was her father. She really understood that now. “Please help him.”
“I can’t let Gabriel hurt you.”
“Don’t you see?” She sobbed. “Losing Greg will hurt me.”
Rhane brushed a finger against her cheek and slipped from her arms. Wrenching the front passenger door from the hinges, he reached in and checked for pulses on both men. The officer groaned. Greg was silent.
Rhane called to her softly, “Kali, I need you.” She hurried next to him. “Release his belt when I tell you to.”
Kali did as she was asked and soon her dad was lying safely on the ground, his head in her lap. Rhane had rounded to the other side of the car, and was busy freeing the policeman. Greg’s pulse seemed extremely faint. The slight rise and fall of his chest was barely a comfort. He was in trouble. A deep wound in his upper thigh steadily oozed blood. If the bleeding didn’t stop, he would die.
As she fumbled to remove the belt at his waist, Greg’s eyes fluttered open. “Kali… sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t talk.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you…” He grimaced when she tightened the tourniquet. “You have to go with Rhane.” The whites of his eyes appeared as the pupils rolled back. His entire body began shaking.
“Rhane!” Kali screamed. He appeared instantaneously. “His leg is hurt. He’s lost so much blood.” She tried to calm her breathing, but the breaths just came shallower and faster. “I think he’s dying.”
Rhane knelt, placing his non-bandaged hand on Greg’s injury. Kali struggled to hear him as he spoke. “He’s fine. There’s no pain. He’s fine.”
“What?” She looked again. Rhane was right. Greg’s bleeding had stopped. In fact, the cut itself was gone. Kali put her hand where the fatal wound had been only seconds before. “I—I don’t understand.”
“It’s time for you to go now.” Rhane threw back his head and trilled a whistle that rang deep into the woods. The sound still resonated as he took her face, cradling it wetly in his hands. His expression was heavy with sadness. Kali figured it out. She had missed her chance. Rhane was saying goodbye.
Fresh tears started. They mixed with his blood, pouring out like an endless rain. “Please…” Kali didn’t know what to ask. Rhane had saved her, protected her, and guarded her physically and emotionally for every step of the road that had led them to this point. He had done everything anyone could have asked of him and had only wanted her trust in return. He had given her back her family. And now he was sacrificing his life to keep her and her father safe. “Rhane, I…” A huge knot closed her throat.
He smiled gently. “I know.”
Behind him, a dark figure rose from the earth, unfolding until he stood at least nine feet tall. A frightening mix of human and beast, black hair ran down the middle of Gabriel’s spine like an unkempt mane. Mottled skin stretched over broad and hunched shoulders. His neck was as thick as a tree trunk. Fixing the glow of his crimson eyes on them, he charged faster than she had ever seen anything move. Rhane distanced himself and the fury of Gabriel’s attack away from Kali. The grayish blur corrected its course, slamming into Rhane with bone breaking force. Repeated screams tore from her throat as the monster impaled him with its claws, lifting his body high overhead. Gabriel bayed and hurled Rhane toward an outcropping of rocks. He landed with a sickening thud, shuddered, and did not move again.
“Rhane!” she screamed.
“Rhane!”
Grief overcame her. Possessing her body from the inside out, it threatened to tear away her soul and leave her hollow. The rocks were painted with blood. Rhane’s blood. He raised his head. Weak but furious, his eyes met Gabriel’s in defiant challenge. That monster was going to kill him. And she was helpless to stop it. Kali dug her nails into the cold earth and watched Gabriel close in on her guardian, her family…her heart.
Heat welled inside of her. It took over, pouring into her body in a thick wave of anger and possession. White-hot rage changed her into someone stronger, something better. Kali gave in to the pain, the hunger, and the urge to destroy. She became the siren.
Chapter 62
Pain was everywhere, excruciating unbelievable pain. It was pure agony to open his eyes against it, but Rhane did, meeting Gabriel’s bloodthirsty glare with hatred. Saliva poured excitedly from the creature’s snout, dripping down its fangs. Gabriel’s eyes were victorious. He was about to kill the one thing standing between him and his prize.
Rhane looked at Kalista, lovely in all the chaos even as she cried and screamed like a madwoman. Again, he had failed. What would become of her now? Builders would move her to another child. She would remain their captive. Or…she would become Gabriel’s. Rhane hated to think of it. Gabriel would turn Kalista into a monster. And his friends…they were probably going to die.
Another wave of nauseating pain tore through Rhane’s body. He set his teeth against it and willed himself not to cry out. Then it was gone. At first, Rhane thought Gabriel had simply killed him. But the fallen Prime was frozen in place.
Rhane focused his waning sight on Kalista. Her raven hair flowed like silk in the wind, radiant by moonlight. A gray haze had surrounded her form, rapidly expanding into an all-consuming fire. Tendrils snaked out to levitate her body into the air. Her face distorted beautifully, displaying anger and concentration as she held Gabriel by the sheer force of her will. The fire surrounding her grew bigger, increasing until it filled the clearing with its incandescence.
The ground rocked. Small tremors intensified until the earth shook with enough force to blur Rhane’s fading vision. Tiny freezing droplets of rain started to fall. Driven by a fierce wind, they stung his cheeks. It was a firm reminder that he was still alive.
He looked at Gabriel. The beast hadn’t moved. But the light from Kalista vanished.
And suddenly, the flames were reborn!
They erupted into a grey and black fireball with Kalista at the heart of the shadows. The flurry took on a new shape. Dark light funneled toward the heavens and then sank back to the earth, returning to the mistress who summoned it. A pair of wings formed a silhouette of black fire. The wings lengthened fully, and then folded protectively around Kalista.
Everything went soundless as the light exploded into a blinding wave of heat and power. Gabriel went hurtling into the trees. He sailed helplessly through the air, pulverizing several lesser trees until a collision with a large pine stopped his trajectory. He landed and was stunned. Digging claws into the earth, Gabriel rolled to all fours. Red eyes glowering, he leveled a hungry gaze on Kalista.
Rhane felt the change. His temperature spiked until it felt as if his very blood was boiling. Three bands of light blazed into his skin, encircling his wrist. The same bright light glowed in the palm of his right hand. The branding…it was the mark of Banewolf.
Rhane threw back his head and let out a triumphant howl as his weaker form melted away, drawn inside the protection of a nearly indestructible war skin. He was on all fours when he climbed down from the rocks. A handsome blanket of milk white fur covered the colossal wolf hide. Banewolf had awakened. Rhane was whole again. He was immortal.
The scent of Gabriel’s fear was delicious in his highly attuned nose. The wolf’s muscles bunched into a reserve of power, uncoiling in a fraction of a second to launch him from the rocks. In three bounds, Banewolf landed in front of Gabriel’s crouching form. With a raging snarl, he attacked. Teeth and claws shredded Gabriel’s hide. The wolf and the monster rolled, each one ripping and tearing at his enemy.
When they broke apart, Gabriel lunged. All twelve hundred pounds of disfigured flesh were aimed to crush the wolf. The wolf yielded to the brutish impact. And when the moment was right, iron-muscled hindquarters fired into action. Gabriel found himself careening through the air once more. The earth shook when he landed, vibrations reaching the tops of the tallest trees. Gabriel was slow to get up. And he did not attack. Banewolf smelled two more Warekin closing in. No doubt, Gabriel smelled them too.
With one final, longing gaze, Gabriel spoke to the white wolf. It was a guttural sound, a rasping tremor that should not have formed in an animal’s throat.
We’ll meet again.
Turning, Gabriel quickly disappeared into the night.
Banewolf watched the retreat. On the inside, Rhane was clinging to consciousness. Somehow, Kalista had forced the transformation. But the fight was over. The adrenaline was burned. And Rhane could barely stand. Collapsing heavily onto Banewolf’s haunches, he lifted the wolf’s great head to see her.
Her gray fire dulled to a warm glow. The darkness consuming her eyes all but vanished. The rain stopped. Her eyes closed.
Kalista sank to her knees, and Banewolf’s legs gave way. Rhane filled his eyes with the sight of his siren—dark and beautiful and wild.
And then she, and everything else, was gone.
Chapter 63
Kali slowly came to. Someone’s head floated above hers. And very odd eyes watched her with keen interest. But for the blue irises and white lashes that surround them, the orbs could have belonged to Rhane. She sat up and immediately regretted it as a wave of dizziness threatened to make her puke.
The man who kneeled next to her didn’t appear concerned. His eyes were cold, harsh even. For a split second, Kali wondered if it was Gabriel in human form. Her face must have expressed fear because the man spoke. “You have nothing to fear from me.” He turned to look over his shoulder.
Kali tried to get to her feet, but only managed to reach her knees. The gaze of burning ice found its way back to her. She ignored the strange man. She could only think of one person. As if reading her thoughts, the stranger moved. And Kali saw him. He was a motionless form on an earth saturated in red. York, War, and Orrin all stood nearby, not moving. Varying degrees of blame, anger, and disgust weighed in their expressions. None of them would meet her eyes. Kali felt ashamed. Compared to them, the harsh stare of the white haired stranger were almost welcome.
“My brother is dead,” the stranger said.
Kali felt something shatter inside of her. Something that would never return.
“Our laws demand justice for this loss.” He looked behind him again. The others had not moved. “For his memory we will spare what he loved. But you must run.”
She stood up. “Please…let me stay with him.” Rhane. She couldn’t believe he was gone. After everything. She sobbed, but buried the wail of anguish that threatened to tear from her throat and never end.
The blue-eyed man rose in a flash of movement. And Kali saw the sword in his hands, gleaming even in darkness. The man’s eyes weren’t just cold. They were dead. Dead like Rhane.
“Do not go home. If we meet again, you will die.” He pointed to her father. “And Greg will die. Your entire family will die. Go. Now.”
She had no choice. With one final glance at each of their stony faces…Kali turned and ran.
#
Epilogue
Callan’s long body was stretched out on the supple leather of his white sofa. He slept lightly with every thought and dream eventually drifting to Kali. He stirred as a chill entered the room, dropping the temperature steadily. A shiver rippled through him. Cal awoke.
The cold air seemed to flow from the direction of the bedroom. Cal frowned. He was certain he hadn’t left a window open. Rising from the couch warily, he crossed to the short hallway in darkness. He had lived in the apartment for several years and knew the exact whereabouts of every piece of furniture and door-jamb, never so much as stubbing his toe in a two a.m. trip to the bathroom.
But as he entered his bedroom, Cal hesitated. Something wasn’t right. Fine hairs at the back of his neck stood on end. The window was open. And it explained the cold and the breeze. But Cal was certain that something else was there. Something was inside the room with him. He felt rather than saw it watching him from the corner, patient but hungrily waiting.
He considered reaching for the light but stopped. “I know you’re in here. Come out now, before I call the cops.” The darkness sighed in answer. Cal’s weak human eyes outlined the hunkered shape shifting slightly. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “What do you want?”